The Court of Appeal in Akure has sacked the late Oba Babajide Lawrence Oluwole as Olu-Oke of Okeigbo, Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area, Ondo State.
In a judgement delivered Thursday, Justice M.L. Hassan, with Justices P.O. Affen and P.C. Obiorah concurring, dismissed Appeal No. CA/AK/97/2023 for lacking merit.
The appellate court upheld the April 13, 2023, verdict of the Ondo State High Court, where Justice Ademola Enikuemehin removed Oba Oluwole.
The trial court found that Oluwole was not a member of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House, whose turn it was to produce the monarch.
The suit, HOD/80/2018, was filed by the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House against Oba Oluwole, Oke-Igbo kingmakers, and the state government.
The claimants argued that Oluwole belonged to the Bamgbala Family, which is not part of Aare Kugbaigbe, and was never nominated by the ruling house.
They also challenged the state’s “Traditional Ruling Quarter” system used to appoint Oluwole in 2018, describing it as alien to Oke-Igbo customary law.
According to them, the town’s tradition recognises only five ruling houses descended from the five founders, which had produced all 16 past rulers.
Ondo State had approved Oluwole’s appointment in 2018 to succeed Oba Timothy Fasawe.
Dissatisfied with the High Court ruling, Oluwole, through counsel Olalekan Ojo, SAN, filed the appeal on 12 grounds.
He argued that the Executive Council had replaced the old customary law with a new system, and that the trial court judgement, delivered more than three months after final addresses, was invalid.
The appeal was amended on May 30, 2025.
The Court of Appeal rejected those grounds and affirmed Enikuemehin’s decision.
Following the verdict, the Ondo State Government has approved Oba Akintoye Felix Adeoye, a lawyer and former President of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, as the new Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.
He is from the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House.
Lead counsel to the new Oba, Chief Sola Ebiseni, told journalists the judgement affirms Oke-Igbo’s customary law and “will further unite the ancient town.”
Oba Oluwole died while the appeal was pending.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
